Friday, October 30, 2009

Caps vs. Islanders 10-30-2009 Post-Mortem

Tomas Fleischmann with two goals in his second game of the season. He got both of this goals because he went to the front of the net. Let's hope he keeps that up.

Only three penalties committed tonight. If nothing else our discipline is picking up. Helps too that we killed all three penalties as well.

The Power Play was 2 for 6 tonight taking 13 shots on goal. It was clear to us for the most part that the Power Play unit was able to get what they wanted, except of course for more goals.

THE BAD:

Now we know why Bruce Boudreau rarely uses the second Power Play unit. Given larger than normal shifts tonight, they failed to get setup in crucial Power Plays early and late in the game. Maybe they need more time on the ice...

The fourth line tonight was not very good, a combined -4 for the trio.

THE UGLY:

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, you probably saw this one coming with Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green's ugly turnover in front of his own net leading to the Islanders second score is tonight's John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles Bonehead Play of the Game. Fitting that he ends up a -1 because the two assists he notched came on Power Play goals.

Up 1-0 and with an open net to shoot at, The New SOB Line got pass happy once again and didn't bother to score.

Continuing with last point, we felt that was a very critical juncture in the game. Had the Caps gotten out to a two goal lead, the might have been able to put the Islanders away early. However, they passed up on the opportunity and the Islanders scored not too long after that to tie the game at 1. That's all the Islanders needed to know that they could stay with us tonight and made it a completely different game. Boudreau has said that he'll break that line up should they start over passing. Well two games in a row and they've blown prime chances by over passing. Finally, while it was nice to get a winning streak out to 6 games, it was eventually going to end. Maybe, just maybe it is better to lose a winning streak against a team like the Islanders because should continue to drive the point home that we cannot play lackadaisical and expect to win every night.

Tonight, the Caps wrap up a three games in four nights run when they come home to face the New York Islanders. The Caps faced the Islanders on Long Island last Saturday night where they launched a come-from-behind effort to win 3-2 in overtime all falling behind 2-0. Since then the Islanders dropped another 3-2 decision in overtime in Montreal to the Canadiens on Monday but got back on track with a 3-1 win at home over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night for only their second win of this season.

We can't seem to find anything... Apparently there's something else going on up there right now...

What Do We Expect Tonight?:

Willing to pull his punches in the locker room and not say something emotional to the team last night Bruce Boudreau unloaded in the press conference and will say something else to the team in the locker room this morning before the morning skate. (Oh to be a fly on that wall...) But we have to like that the coach is not allowing the problems of last year to continue on into this year. Tonight the underwhelming opponent is the New York Islanders. And while they have a dismal record of only two wins on the season, one by the gimmick, they already have 5 Bettman points so far which means they hang around in games. So we'll find out tonight if Boudreau's efforts will have any effect on a bunch of players who are carrying the attitude of "just get the two points and be done with it." The good news is that last year, despite all the trouble the Caps had on Long Island, they had little trouble with the Islanders on home ice.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 5Islanders 2Winner by Laich(5-7 on the season with one perfect game)

It's not often that an empty net goal ends up being the game winning goal. But that was happened tonight and it isn't a good thing folks, especially when you enter the third period with a 3-0 lead.

Once again the Caps allow 20 shots on goal in the third period, 41 for the entire game. To make matters worse, the Thrashers had not taken more than 28 shots in a single game so far this season.

Well folks, instead of coming out flat for the start of tonight's game, the Caps came out flat at the start of the third period, again. We admit, it is tough to dominate a team for an entire 60 minutes even if that is what you strive for. There are going to be stretches of bad play within games but the key to them is to keep them as short as possible and come away with a lead or remain within striking difference once they're over. We do have to give the Caps credit, they are mastering that ability early on this season.

Tonight, the Caps head back down to Atlanta to face the Thrashers for the second time his season. The Thrashers have played only once since losing to the Caps 5-4 last Thursday and it was big loss, 4-3, at home to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night. Ilya Kovalchuk broke his foot in that game and tonight will be the first time since that injury on Saturday night that the Thrashers will play a game.

Coming off a huge win on Tuesday night and riding a five game winning streak, tonight's game has all the classic signs of being a trap game. The Caps and the Thrashers played each other last week and the Caps got away with a win, the Thrashers have lost three in a row, and now their star player is going to be out for at least a month. The Caps have won five of the last six meetings against the Thrashers, are on five game winning streak right now, are coming off a huge win at home in front of an excited crowd on Tuesday night, and now will be playing in front of a dead crowd on the road. Anybody want to bet that the Caps come out flat tonight? Furthermore teams that are dealing with injuries to their star players initially have a boost in their own play as everybody pitches in at the start of that stretch to pick up the slack for the fallen player. While the Caps catch a break in that they don't have to contain Kovalchuk tonight, they do have tighten up on everybody else which can be a much tougher task, especially after giving up 43 shots on Tuesday night, 20 in the third period alone. Finally, the Caps were very sloppy last week in Atlanta yet still got the win, maybe they'll be better tonight but given the recent history of this team playing down to the level of their competition, we're not holding our breath here.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 3Thrashers 4Winner by Peverley(5-6 on the season with one perfect game we're going to let you know about until this season ends)

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Caps vs. Flyers 10-27-2009 Post-Mortem

We love it when we're right... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

Back from the Oink or something like it, Alexander "Slappy" Semin registers 3 points, scores the game winning goal, is a +3 but isn't one of the three stars of the game. This gives you an idea of what a complete performance the team put forward tonight.

Nicklas Backstrom with 4 points and a +3 and A.O. with 2 goals and a +3 too. For those keeping score at home, that's 9 points and +9 combined for the reunited New SOB line. Bruce Boudreau is going to have to think hard before splitting up this line again.

While the bashers will only remember the ugly turnover late in the game, Jeff "Sergeant" Schultz had a good tonight as well. He was clearing out the crease and registered another assist tonight finishing with a +1.

The Power Play started getting back in sync tonight going 1 for 4. The 1:41 5-on-3 was a little disappointing but the Caps were credited with 6 shots on goal during that span. They did everything they needed to do on that except score the goal.

THE BAD:

Yikes, 43 shots on goal and the first few shots on goal from the Flyers tonight came from right in front of the net off of centering passes from behind the net. This game was a little too wide-open for our tastes.

If anybody wants to know why Alexandre Giroux did not get any interest from any NHL team this past summer needs to watch this game tonight. Plain and simple, he does not belong in the NHL.

THE UGLY:

Tyler Sloan is much better as a defenseman than as a forward. However, the fourth line played well tonight and was able to create pressure and havoc in the offensive zone.

We had flashbacks to the second round of the playoffs. After the Caps Power Play finally connected, no more penalties were called on Philadelphia. Not that Philadelphia didn't commit penalties, just that nothing was called. We're tired of that stunt.

Boudreau has been looking for a sixty minute performance all season and you could say that he finally got it tonight. The Caps certainly had the effort they needed for sixty minutes but, as we mentioned above, the game was a little too wide-open for our tastes. We know this team can tighten things up better than they did tonight. We're a long ways away from the playoffs right now but for the Caps to be able to come back from a 2-0 deficit against a team like Philadelphia is very, very encouraging.

Tonight, the Caps bring home a four game winning streak home when they face the Flyers for the second time this season. Three weeks ago in Philly, both teams blew leads in the third period as the Flyers won 6-5 in overtime. The Flyers have just two wins in their six games since then and are coming of a 4-1 loss at home on Sunday night to the San Jose Sharks.

Well, as expected, it is up to the Capitals to defend the honor of D.C. from the Philadelphia hordes. Tonight would be a good night for the Caps to get their Power Play back on track as the Caps have struggled with the extra man recently going without a Power Play goal in the last two games and in their last 13 Power Play opportunities overall. We can't think of anything more dangerous than a Flyers team that is not afraid to take penalties. The Caps will need to convert their chances and the earlier they do it, the better. The Flyers are playing their fourth game in six nights and are a little banged up with Simon Gagne doubtful for tonight's game. The Caps are starting their own busy stretch of four games in six nights with three of them coming at the Phone Booth with the Flyers offering one of the stiffest opposition of the four games.

Tonight the Caps head up to Long Island to face the Islanders. While the Caps swept the season series last year, the two wins in Uniondale required overtime. The Islanders finally picked up their first win this season on Wednesday night when they beat the Carolina Hurricanes at home 4-3 in a gimmick. The Islanders were in Montreal on Thursday night where they lost to the Canadiens 5-1. Tonight will be their third game in four nights.

Well folks, after the first nine games so far this season, it looks as if the Caps are back to their old tricks of playing up or down to their opponent. Tonight's game will help serve confirmation of that as the Islanders so far are nowhere near as improved as many thought they would be. Therein lies the dilemma for the Caps. If the Caps come out strong tonight, they have a good chance of burying the Islanders quickly, but as games against Toronto and Nashville showed, they lose focus late in the game and make things closer than they should be. If the Caps have another slow or so-so start, the Islanders will hang around and the Caps will have to work harder than they should to pull out a win. The last three times the Caps have gone to Uniondale, the games have ended up in overtime with the Caps winning the last two in the extra session. This game should not require overtime but considering the way the Caps have played their last five periods of hockey, this game very well could. We don't know if it is good news or bad news that the Islanders are struggling with only one win in their first eight games but we do know that half of the Islanders games so far have gone into overtime where the Islanders have only won one of the four games, Wednesday night's gimmick win over Carolina which was their third gimmick of the season so far. So we're thinking this is going to be closer than we want it to be.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 3Islanders 2Winner by A.O.(3-6 on the season, at this rate, we can't pick cotton right now...)

Seven penalties against a hot Power Play is bad enough, but to take four penalties in the third period, three of them with less than 3 minutes left, when nursing a multiple goal lead is downright awful.

The only bright spot (if you could call it that) was that the Caps still scored five goals in spite of the top line not producing a single point.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

No Post-Mortem Again

Well kids, so much for our nice, relaxing, quiet week...

It's been another one of those weeks where we seriously consider to start drinking. We've been watching the game tonight but are just dead tired. We'll meld our thoughts on this game tonight into the Wrap Up in the morning.

Tonight, the Caps play their first of 24 Southeast Division games when they visit the Atlanta Thrashers. Last year the Caps took the season series against Atlanta, 4-2, winning only one of the three games in Atlanta. The Thrashers are off to a good start winning four of their first six games and are coming off of Tuesday night's 2-1 gimmick loss in Montreal. This is Atlanta's first home game since opening the season on October 3rd with a 6-3 win over Tampa.

After the longest non-Olympic break in the schedule this season, the Caps thought they would be opening up one of their easiest stretches of the schedule where they would face Atlanta and the New York Islanders twice each in the next five games. Problem is that, tonight's game is for first place in the Southeast Division as Atlanta has gotten off to a strong start of their own. Yes we know it's early and we're not too concerned about the standings right now with just three weeks of the season gone. But this is a prime chance for the Caps to get out to a big lead in the Southeast Division. Atlanta's special teams have been working well for them so far this season, they're currently ranked 4th on the Penalty Kill and 2nd on the Power Play so the Caps may want to keep tonight's game at even strength as much as possible, especially while they work off the rink rust of a four day break. This isn't going to be easy as the Caps have struggled playing early season games in Atlanta and if the Caps aren't focused early in tonight's game, it could get away from them very quickly.

Tonight, with a four day break in the schedule looming, the Caps look to close out their three game homestand when they face the Nashville Predators for the only time this season. Last season the Caps swept the series against the Predators with a gimmick win at home and an overtime win in Nashville. After winning their first two games of the season, the Predators having lost four in a row including Thursday night's loss at home to the Blackhawks. In those four losses, Nashville has scored only two goals total, being shutout twice in the process.

If we've learned anything over the years it is that there is no bigger recipe for disaster than taking your opponent lightly. Even if you end up winning in spite of a lackluster effort against a lesser opponent, bad habits can form that will eventually come back to haunt you. Luckily, just one game removed from a four game losing streak, the Caps shouldn't be in the position where they can take anyone lightly. The numbers are clearly in the Caps favor tonight. Nashville has allowed at least two goals in every game so far this season and have had little offense in their last four games. Bruce Boudreau has been looking for goal scoring outside of the top six forwards and tonight offers a good chance for the rest of the team to get on track. Like the home opener, this is the type of a game that should be over fairly quickly and will provide a measuring stick as to how much the team has matured.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 6Predators 0Winner by Steckel(2-5 on the season)

Editorial Note For the Dozen Readers of This Blog:

Due to various past and present scheduling conflicts beyond our control, we will not be able to attend tonight's game nor watch at least the first period. Therefore, there will be no Post-Mortem later tonight.

Caps vs. Sharks 10-15-2009 Wrap Up

One thing that we noticed last night but forgot to mention was that while the Caps Power Play was only 1 for 5, the Caps were still able to impose their will on San Jose during the man advantage. The Caps had 8 shots total on the five Power Plays and the Sharks knew exactly what we were trying to do with the puck. Give the credit to Evgeni Nabokov for coming up with the saves but the fact that the Caps were able to get what they wanted is just another sign of how good this team is. Good teams are still able to execute their game plans even when the other team knows exactly what's coming.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Caps vs. Sharks 10-15-2009 Post-Mortem

Persistence pays off... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

A.O. with two more goals tonight. For those keeping score at home, he's now all alone in 8th place on the Caps All-Time Scoring list with 434 points. Up next in 7th is St. Calle Johansson with 474 so it is going to be awhile. And for the record, his 6th and 7th goals of the season give him 226 in his career. He's now only 171 goals behind Mike Gartner for 2nd place All-Time on the Caps Goal Scoring list.

Well what do you know, we finally converted a 5-on-3! It took two tries though the first one was only 18 seconds long and losing the faceoff pretty much sealed that fate. The one goal came on one shot so at least they made it count.

In addition to only taking three minor penalties tonight, the Caps killed off all three allowing only 2 shots on goal. It looks as if the message got through.

THE BAD:

Taking 17 shots on goal and getting five Power Plays in the first period, yet all the Caps could manage was 1-1 tie after the first period.

And getting back to Theodore, we hope the back spasms are really day-to-day. It would stink to have him go down for any length of time with him playing so well right now.

And speaking of goaltending, the Caps allowed 13 shots on goal in the first period alone. The Saviour faced only 15 in the last two periods but the Caps can't give up that many chances early in the game.

THE UGLY:

Eric Fehr and Jed Ortmeyer with very pedestrian backchecks that led to goals against their respective teams. In fairness to Ortmeyer, he was trying to backcheck A.O. who was in on a 3-on-2 but Fehr should have had Benn Ferriero covered better.

So folks just how big was that Matt "Omar" Bradley goal in the third period tonight? If we were Todd McLellan, we would have told our team during the second intermission that the Caps have been blowing leads lately so let's jump on them at the start of the third period and get a goal. If we do, the Caps would likely collapse. Well, the Sharks tired to get within one early in the third period but the Caps were able to hang on. Once Omar scored to increase the lead to three, the Caps relaxed, got back to playing their system, and you could see the wind come out of San Jose's sails. Not even Shaone Morrrissonnn's delay-of-game penalty could get the Sharks going again. While it is only one game in October, this is a big win for the Caps tonight not just because they won, but how they did it. They played a solid game throughout and beat a very good team that they hadn't beaten in a long time. While the rough opening stretch has one more game to go, the Caps can certainly have something to build on as the season goes forward.

Tonight, the Caps look to end their four game losing streak when they face the San Jose Sharks for the first time this season at the Phone Booth. The Caps took one on the chin from the Sharks in the only meeting last year, losing 7-2 in San Jose, and have not beaten the Sharks in their last 11 attempts and haven't won at home against San Jose since February 20th, 1999. The Sharks are coming off a 1-0 gimmick loss at home to the Phoenix Coyotes at home on Monday night. That ended a two game winning streak for them as they are starting a six game road trip up and down the east coast with tonight's game.

Well folks it seems as if everybody is expecting a high-flying, high scoring, true defensive struggle tonight as two teams that like to light it up on the scoreboard go at it. Yet in their last game, the Sharks were shutout and the Caps have scored only two goals in each of their last two games. So while tonight's game is littered with players currently atop the league's points and goal scoring leaders, there's no guarantee that tonight's game is going to be a shootout during regulation time. But we wouldn't bet against that either which is why we're not gamblers. Bruce Boudreau is back to playing mad scientist again with the top two lines as he tries to get the offense back on track and end the four game losing streak. However things didn't start to unravel until the defensive pairings were tinkered with and with John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles nursing an injury, the opening night pairings will still be shuffled. But no matter the pairings on the blueline, expecting the Caps to shutdown a team like San Jose maybe expecting a little too much at this point. The Caps will likely simply have to outscore the Sharks to win tonight's game and that's something this team is certainly capable of. We just wonder if the line tinkering will pay off in time.

Caps vs. Devils 10-12-2009 Post-Mortem

Though we're sure somebody, somewhere is either blaming Jeff "Sergeant" Schultz or the fact that Chris Bourque got waived....

After tonight's performance, we eagerly await the November 12th game between the Devils and the Penguin Scum. It should be a night that makes Greg Louganis proud with all the diving that will be going on...

And if we saw another puck hit off a linesman and bounce in New Jersey's favor, we were going to have to hurt somebody...

The losing streak is now four and in three of the four games, the Caps have blown a lead in the third period. Not good.

We hate the gimmick.

While the game was as low scoring as we thought it would be, we were surprised as to how much open ice there was tonight.

It certainly didn't seem like the Caps won 60% of the faceoffs tonight, 30-20.

We've got to stop blowing these 5-on-3 Power Plays. Though according to some, 5-on-3's are harder to convert than 5-on-4's...

Great point protection hockey in the last 6:26 of the third period.

And speaking of point protection, did the Caps really think they were going to kill off that 4-on-4 leading into a short penalty kill in the third period?

By far the most thrilling overtime period we've seen in the regular season. This even beats St. Calle Johansson's buzzer beater against the Coyotes in 2000.

Did we mention we hate the gimmick?

Finally, we feel as though we should mention (simply because everybody else is piling on the Redskins right now), this losing streak started after A.O., Nicklas Backstrom, Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green, and Bruce Boudreau went to the Redskins-Buccaneers game on October 4th. We think it would be a good idea to keep the Caps as far away from the Redskins as possible in the near future because clearly, the bad karma from the Redskins is rubbing off on the Caps...

Tonight the Caps look to end a three game losing streak when they open up an early season three game homestand by hosting the New Jersey Devils. The Caps were 2-2 against Joisey last season with both loses coming by way of the gimmick. The Devils are finishing off a three game road trip through the Southeast Division and have won the first two games on the jaunt. The most recent of which, a 3-2 win on Saturday night, came at the expense of the Florida Panthers.

Still riding the 37 year old Martin Brodeur in net, the Genius Manager Lou Lamoriello decided to bring back the originator of the neutral zone trap, Jacques Lemaire, as Head Coach this season. While Lemaire claims he'll open things up a bit on offense, don't expect the wide open free-wheeling style the Caps have been playing of late because Joisey can't match the Caps firepower. Tonight to is going to be an exercise in patience and frustration dissipation as we'll get a sense of how much the Caps are really willing to grind things out, at least early in the season. Aside from the obvious, staying out of the Penalty Box and playing the system as a team and not as individuals, the Caps also cannot afford to fall behind the Devils and let them fall into their trap system. A quick start tonight is vital as the Caps could really use a 2-0 lead after the first period.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Caps @ Red Wings 10-10-2009 Post-Mortem

We're sure there will be people out there blaming this loss on Jose "Alvin, Simon," Theodore but the truth of the matter is, he stopped every shot he saw and some he didn't see. .919% save percentage tonight, you can't ask for much more.

With Bruce Boudreau looking for contributions from the third and fourth lines tonight, Matt "Omar" Bradley comes up with a goal and his line were the only plus players on the team tonight.

Anybody who wants to claim that A.O. doesn't work hard or care about defense should be forced to watch this game.

THE BAD:

Good thing Theodore was on his game tonight because the Caps allowed 37 shots on goal. Another sign they didn't have the puck much tonight, the Caps blocked 20 shots from the Red Wings and Detroit missed everything 11 times. Those are numbers we usually put up.

And speaking of our shot totals, only 24 shots on goal, 7 misses, and 9 blocked. Sometimes we get too cute with the puck, however tonight, we simply didn't have the puck enough to get too cute with it.

The Penalty Killers allowed two goals tonight. In game as close as this one was on the scoreboard, it was one too many.

THE UGLY:

The Caps were only able to get four shots on goal in the third period. Even if the Caps had stayed out of the penalty box in the third, at the rate they were generating offense in that period, the only chance the Caps had at getting two points tonight was from a gimmick.

And speaking of penalties, as long as the penalty killing is going to the suffer the way it has and the Caps are facing a good power play unit, the Caps cannot take 5 penalties during the game.

While the overall defensive effort was much better tonight than it has been over the last few games, the Caps have to turn that defensive effort into getting and keeping the puck. There's a reason why they say "the best defense is a good offense."

Compared to the other two games this week, tonight's game was a notch down on the intensity level but still a rather high intensity one none the less. The prescription going forward is pretty simply, stay out of the penalty box as much as possible. The bad news for the Caps is that the competition isn't going to get any easier in the next week. We told you there would be slumps.

Tonight the Caps coming off of two losses venture up to Detroit to face the Red Wings for the only time during the regular season. Last season these two teams met at the Phone Booth the day before the Super Bowl with the Caps coming away with a 4-2 victory. The Red Wings opened up their official home schedule on Thursday night with a 3-2 win over the Blackhawks after dropping a pair of games in Sweden to the Saint Louis Blues last weekend.

There's three ways for a coach to deal with an ugly loss in hockey and one is the bag skate. Bruce Boudreau however went with the detailed video session instead of just ignoring the bad game to call out certain players who weren't pulling their weight. We happen to think that having A.O., Alexander "Slappy" Semin, and Mike "BEAM ME UP" Green skate 11:27, 9:17, and 9:16 respectively of 12:16 Power Play time leads to mistakes and lazy play with the man advantage, but that's another discussion for another time. Tonight we're very interested to see how the Caps respond to the tongue lashing. Last year the Caps had a habit of playing to the level of their opponents so, one would not have to worry too about the Caps effort tonight in Detroit regardless of what Boudreau did. The effort will be there because Detroit is considered one of the best teams in the NHL. The Red Wings are on a youth movement this year and for Detroit, that means not having a player over the age of 40 on the roster for the first time in six years. The Red Wings have played in the last two Stanley Cup Finals and it is starting to wear on them with their slow start so far this season and the losses they suffered in free agency over the summer. The loss of Johan Franzen is going to hurt in the long run but teams usually rally initially when a key player gets hurt. This could be a fun game to watch tonight and the third "playoff type game" in a row for the Caps.

While A.O. didn't register a point tonight,and fell off his 246 point pace, it certainly wasn't for a lack of trying on his part. A game high nine shots on goal and he was all over the ice as usual. Just didn't get anything to go in tonight is all.

THE BAD:

Well, let the Jeff "Sergeant" Schultz bashing begin in earnest. He was a -1 tonight and on the ice for two Rangers goals, but neither one was his fault. Not that this has ever stopped his numerous and barely coherent detractors.

Furthermore, let the Jose "Alvin, Simon," Theodore bashers come out in full force too. Yeah, he surrendered the 3-2 lead on a soft goal but Tom Poti screened him on the game winner and Theodore will get no credit for standing on his head in the first period where he came up with some very big saves when the team in front of him didn't look very interested.

THE UGLY:

1-9 on the Power Play tonight, 2-14 over the last two games. For a team that is looking to burn people for taking penalties, the Caps haven't done it well enough over the last two games. Even more frustrating was the 1:33 of 5-on-3 time that yielded only two shots on goal.

Putting six skaters on the ice during a Power Play to nullify it with a too many men on the ice call. Who did we think we were, Pittsburgh?

And for the second game in a row; Boyd Gordon takes a penalty in deep in the offensive zone late in the third period that leads to a costly Power Play goal against. Maybe Bruce Boudreau should have a chat with him as Gordon earns the John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles Bonehead Play of the Game award.

Well folks, it certainly sounds cliche, but you can't win them all. No Sergei (#3) Fedorov tonight to bail us out though Henrik Lunqvist deserves kudos for bringing the crowd and the Caps to life in the third period with his monumental gaffe. We've already seen what this team can do when it is motivated and wants to win and maybe after losing their second game in a row, that hunger will return, especially having to go to Detroit up next. Because tonight the Caps were simply outworked by the Rangers. Give New York credit, they did what they had to do to win and once they bailed Lundqvist out, they didn't give the Caps much of a chance to tie the game up again. Things will work themselves out though because we get the feeling that enough leadership has been put into the room to keep things from getting out of control.

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, breakout the raincoats and rowboats, John Tortorella is coming back to the Phone Booth Tonight (no, we're not retiring that joke) with his New York Rangers for the first real meeting between the teams since Game 7 last spring. The Rangers are off to decent start, winning two in a row after losing their opener to the Penguin Scum including Monday night's 3-2 win in New Jersey. The Caps took three of the four regular season games between the two teams last season with the Caps sweeping the games on home ice.

Head Coach Bruce Boudreau has himself a sticky situation tonight. The plan had been to start Jose "Alvin, Simon," Theodore in goal tonight primarily as part of the goaltender rotation but to also give Theodore a chance to redeem himself on home ice against the Rangers after not getting that chance last April. However, after the clunker turned in by Semyon "the Saviour" Varlamov on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, what better way than to get the kid back on track than against the team he befuddled back in the spring? Well, these aren't exactly the same Rangers that we played back in the spring. The Rangers offense has been souped up with the addition of Marion Gaborik and Chris Drury is healthy now. They also have two young defensemen, Michael Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy, who have been impressive in their first three NHL games. Whoever starts in net tonight, the Caps will need to tighten up on the defense, especially in the third period where the Caps have allowed five goals so far this season, six if you include overtime. While the Rangers will be looking to avenge blowing a 3-1 series lead, games like tonight's do little to erase that history.

Not to hard to figure out where this one went wrong. Though if John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles can't take care of that scumbag Dani Briere in front of the net, then we have bigger problems than the penalty box parade that was put on tonight. Though we wonder how much Dave Jackson was a cause of that. Going 1 for 5 on your own Power Plays isn't helpful either. And while it won't matter a whit to his numerous detractors, Jeff "Sergent" Schultz was a +1 in 15 minutes of ice time and was not on the ice for any of the goals scored by the Flyers. Though we're sure people will still find a way to blame him for this loss.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

No Post-Mortem Tonight Kids

Well folks, you what Forrest Gump says (no, not that, "it happens") and that's exactly what's been happening to us today; traffic jams, phone ringing off the hook during the game, among other things... We didn't pay much attention to the 2nd period when seven goals were scored. So we cannot comment intelligently on tonight game therefore, no Post-Mortem. (Yeah, we know, that's never stopped us before, R-D-R-R)

Tonight the Caps head up I-95 to face the Philadelphia Flyers in their home opener. The Caps split the season series with the Flyers last year with each team winning once at home and on the road. The Flyers have gotten off to a strong start themselves, winning big in Carolina and New Jersey to start their season.

It may be only the 3rd of 82 games for both teams but tonight poses a real test for them. The Caps are putting their discipline and Power Play abilities to the test by not only playing the Flyers, but playing them on the road in their home opener. You know the Flyers are going to be hitting everything that moves and a few things that don't feeding off their rabid (and we mean rabid) fans and keeping them riled up. The Flyers however are playing the most potent offense they've faced so far this season. Ray Emery has been impressive in his return from exile in Russia but this isn't New Jersey or Carolina that he's facing. If the Caps can get off to a quick start and maintain their discipline by not taking retaliation penalties, they have a good chance at winning tonight's game. However, we find it hard to choose against any team in their home opener because of the emotion involved.

We have to admit that we were impressed with Mike Knuble's kncomment about putting teams away. "We'll do a better job." That's something he haven't heard around here in a long time and we get the feeling too that Knuble knmeans it.

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Caps vs. Maple Thug Leafs 10-3-2009 Post-Mortem

We had something really pithy for this... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

Ok, so A.O. won't score 164 goals this season (his pace after one game) but he is still on pace for 246 points after racking up 1 goal and two assists tonight. A.O. now has six points on the season and 426 in his career, tying him for with Kevin Hatcher 10th place on the Caps All-Time Points list. On Tuesday night he should tie Scott Stevens who is currently in 9th with 429 points.

Chasing a goaltender after one period is always a nice thing, chasing him with 3 goals on your first 7 shots is even better.

Not only do the Penalty Killers remain perfect on the season, going 3 for 3 tonight, they also for the second game in a row allow just one shot with a man in the box.

THE BAD:

Down 5-1 in the second period, the Thug Leafs tried to goad John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles into a fight. To his credit, the slow-footed, dim-witted defenseman didn't take the bait like he did on Thursday night. However, on the Power Play that he drew, the Caps failed to convert.

Once again the top line produced and once again they botched some nice chances by being too cute. We wonder how long it is going to take to catch up to them.

Vesa Toskala and Jonas Gustavsson certainly didn't get much from the defense in front of them, but neither made big saves either for their team.

THE UGLY:

Up 6-1 entering the third period, there's no excuse for giving up three goals and having to start to sweat the win out.

Did sponsors insist upon an more sinister looking Slapshot?

And speaking of fixing something that wasn't broken, why were new banners put up tonight and since when were our colors burgundy and blue? Oh, an good job on ironing the banners before putting them in the rafters too.

This year the Caps get to play in three home openers including their own. Tonight was an impressive start but the finish leaves a lot to be desired. Luckily there's another 80 games to refine the killer instinct.

Tonight the Caps open up the home slate for the 2009-2010 season against the retooled (and we mean tooled) Toronto Maple Thug Leafs. The Thug Leafs are trying to fight their way, literally, into a playoff spot as they've missed them for the last four seasons. The teams split the four games last year and the Thug Leafs are coming off a loss in overtime on opening night at home to Montreal on Thursday night.

Tonight it is the Caps turn to get the emotional bump of playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this season. After a 2 for 4 performance on Thursday night, General Manager George McPhee's decision to beef up the power play in face of overly physical teams will be tested for the first time tonight. However, no matter what the outcome of tonight's game is, the final verdict will hardly be reached. We don't expect the Thug Leafs to sit back and try to absorb the Caps opening push tonight and instead try to initiate something early on which would only serve to get the crowd even more riled up. Bruce Boudreau is going with Semyon "The Saviour" Varlamov in net tonight despite the strong performance of Jose "Alvin, Simon" Theodore on Thursday. The Saviour was undefeated in the preseason but faded in the third period in all of his games. Now that the games count for real, the Caps cannot afford that tonight.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

GAME ON! Caps @ Bruins 10-1-2009 Post-Mortem

Well, it's a start... Onto the Battle Damage Assessment...

THE GOOD:

Speaking for ourselves and ourselves alone, we're certainly glad we spending $2.8 a season for the next two seasons to get Mike Knuble to stand in front of the net and bang in rebounds on the Power Play like Brooks "and Dunn" Laich($2.1 million this season) did twice tonight.

The Penalty Killing tonight was good, going 5 for 5 and allowing only one shot on goal while down a man and getting five shots on goal against themselves. We hope they keep this up.

And speaking of shots on goal, after going up 4-0 in the third period, the Caps clamped down and only allowed Boston 3 shots on goal for the third period.

THE BAD:

Tom Poti with some ill advised and timed pinches at the blue line. We counted three in the first half of the game alone that allowed Boston to generate scoring chances. We thought he was being counted on to lead this defense?

While the A.O., Nicklas Backstrom, and Alexander "Slappy" Semin line terrorized the Bruins tonight, racking up 8 points combined and +4, they played way too cute for our tastes and wasted chances as a result. In other words, they should have had more points than they did tonight which is scary.

As alluded to above, Knuble only skated one Power Play shift tonight for :56 of 3:25 of Power Play time for the Caps.

THE UGLY:

With the exception of the goaltender interference call on A.O. (which we thought was an iffy call that could have gone either way), the penalties the Caps took tonight were just silly, including John "Coach's Pet" Erskine Bowles' fight with Shawn Thornton. While the Power Play should work in our favor most nights, the jury is still out on the Penalty Killers and we need to take fewer penalties just to be safe.

The speaking of the Coach's Pet, the Bonehead Play of the Game goes to David Steckel who couldn't hold the line or get back quickly enough launching Patrice Bergeron on the breakaway that spoiled Jose "Alvin, Simon," Theodore's shutout bid. He played well enough to deserve one.

Well folks, it has begun. We have to think that when we get up tomorrow we will find that the Bruins are going to be disappointed in their effort. But other than some nitpicking about developing a better killer instinct and playing too fancy, there isn't much to complain about with tonight's game from the Caps end. The Caps did what they had to do which is get two points in a building where they haven't done much of that in recent history. Is this a message to the rest of the league? Not really, it's only one game and tougher tests await within the next 9 days.

After getting hosed out of a spot in the Winter Classic, the Caps are given the consolation prize of playing the NHL's curtain jerker (that means first match you sickos...) in the same city against the same opponent, only indoors in October instead. The teams finished 1-2 atop the Eastern Conference last year and both went out in the Second Round last spring. The Caps won the season series last year, 3-1.

In home openers the emotional advantage always goes to the home team. They're the ones excited and pumped up to be playing in front of their fans for the first time. In a game between two evenly matched teams, that could be all the difference Boston needs to win this game tonight. The Caps shouldn't be taken too aback by opening the season on the road, this is the fourth year in a row that they've done it, only the Caps aren't opening up in Atlanta like they've have in the past two seasons. Both teams feel as though they have something to prove this season and are expected to be playing deep into the playoffs and could end up facing each other in them. Last year the Caps felt that they had built a mental edge on Boston, beating them 3 out of 4 times. But while neither team has changed dramatically, this is a new season folks.